


mortal body, timeless souls

by SweetTveitoPie



Series: prompts [7]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bittersweet, Brief Underage Drinking, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, New York, New York City, Untagged Background Relationships, and some brief sexual harassment, but other than that i don't think it really warrants any warnings, high school sweethearts, i don't like tagging background relationships so i won't do that, in which he is a senior and she is a junior, there are extremely brief mentions of abuse, this is really bittersweet, this is the longest one-shot i've ever written oh my god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:16:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12294084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetTveitoPie/pseuds/SweetTveitoPie
Summary: Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.





	mortal body, timeless souls

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back! originally posted on tumblr, as always!
> 
> also, with the summary,,,, i just can't resist i'm sorry
> 
> there are some really brief abuse mentions (just mentioned in passing) and brief sexual harassment, but other than that, i think nothing really warrants a warning unless you're one of those people who don't like profanity
> 
> i don't tag background relationships, so here they are: cosette/marius, joly/bossuet/musichetta, azelma/courfeyrac/combeferre, jehan/grantaire, some implied bahorel/feuilly
> 
> title inspired by troye sivan!! i fucking love his music
> 
> i've fancast christy altomare (with darker hair) as chetta and katie hall (with red hair) as zelma, if y'all want faces for them

Éponine strolled through Central Park on a chilly autumn morning, her hands in her pockets, alone with her thoughts. Dead leaves crunched beneath her feet as more leaves in all shades of red and orange and gold continued to fall, and she was feeling strangely melancholy that day, seemingly for no obvious reason. September was just ending and she had just fully gotten used to junior year, and she knew that at one point, she’d have to face the music and come to terms with the fact that she still had a little under two more years left of high school compared to most of her friends. Letting out a dispirited sigh, she shoved her hands further into her pockets as she trudged on through the autumn leaves, not wanting to think about that right now. She didn’t want to think about how she’d be left behind.

She didn’t want to think about how Enjolras was graduating while she still had one more year left.

 _Don’t think about it,_ she told herself firmly. _Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it—_

“’Ponine!” she heard a familiar voice call out, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Enjolras running towards her, dressed in that stupid maroon peacoat and and that stupid grey beanie and those stupid red Chucks and those stupid, stupid black jeans that were way too tight on him—not that she was complaining. She forced a smile as he approached her, attempting to wipe away all traces of the fact that she was down in the dumps.

Enjolras put an arm around her and kissed her temple, murmuring, “How are you, my love?”

“Fine as usual,” Éponine replied, feigning a smile. The tightness of her tone and the obvious insincerity in her smile immediately let Enjolras know that something was wrong.

“Are you sure?” he asked, concerned. “You seem kind of blue today.”

“It’s just my stupid thoughts,” she was quick to reassure him, not wanting him to worry about her when he had so much more to worry about. “It’s nothing, really.”

“No, ’Ponine, it’s not _nothing_ ,” Enjolras insisted, pulling her closer to him. When she stayed silent, he asked with an odd sort of urgency, “Is this because I’m graduating?”

“How’d you guess?” Éponine asked, her voice simply dripping with sarcasm. She composed herself, not wanting to take her repressed anger out on Enjolras. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It’s just the way it is. “I’m sorry, ’Jolras. I just—I’m not ready to accept the fact that I’ll be alone for my senior year.”

“You won’t be alone,” he told her, his arm dropping from around her so he could slip his hand in hers. “You’ll have Cosette, Musichetta, your siblings, Jehan, and Marius.”

“But the rest of you are going to college!” she burst out, her unexpectedly loud tone causing a few pigeons to explode out of a nearby tree. She desperately tried to calm herself down for just one moment, saying much more quietly, “I won’t have _you_ , ’Jolras. I don’t—what am I supposed to—I don’t know—what if we—”

“Shhh,” he murmured soothingly, squeezing her hand and placing a firm kiss on her temple once again. “’Ponine, I _promise_ everything will be okay.”

“What if they’re not?” she whispered, turning her head to look at him. “What if—what if we—” She didn’t dare finish her sentence, scared that he might get ideas.

“Slow down, ’Ponine,” Enjolras told her, chuckling slightly. It only added more to her distress, and seeing the look on her face, he stopped. “Is that what you’re worried about? Do you think I’d just break up with you when I graduate?”

Éponine looked down at her feet sheepishly, turning pink. “Maybe.”

Enjolras stopped in his tracks to place his hands on her shoulders, bending down until they were at eye level. “’Ponine, I’d never break up with you,” he reassured her gently, his voice soft. “We’ll Skype every day. I won’t forget about you—I’d never forget about you—and you know I wouldn’t go to frat parties and all that. That’s more Courfeyrac’s scene,” he tried, attempting to make her laugh. His lips curved into a little smile when the corners of her mouth turned up, giggling slightly.

“You’re right, ’Jolras,” she murmured, pulling him into a hug and burying her face in his chest. “I’m an idiot for worrying.”

“You’re not an idiot, ’Ponine,” he told her, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair. “You mean the world to me, you know that?”

She smiled, her face buried in his chest. After years of abuse, both physical and emotional, she still craved validation, desperate to know that she really was loved.

“You’re my everything,” she mumbled into his chest as he kissed the top of her head yet again.

It wasn’t quite time to say _those_ three little magic words just yet.

* * *

As September came to an end and October began, Éponine found herself all swept up in the events of homecoming, particularly the upcoming homecoming dance. She observed her classmates, watching people getting asked to the dance and witnessing numerous acceptances and rejections. It amused her somewhat—people were making such a huge deal out of one little dance. _Just wait until prom rolls around,_ she thought drily after witnessing yet another rejection.

She didn’t think that she’d get a formal invitation to the dance from Enjolras due to already being with him, but he evidently had other ideas. She really should talk to him about not consulting Jehan about these kinds of things.

Éponine came to school early four days before the homecoming dance to find a bouquet of red carnations in her locker and a box of chocolates, accompanied by a note and two homecoming tickets. She took the flowers in her hand and ripped the note off the chocolate box, unable to resist a smile at the sight of that oh so familiar handwriting. _Will you go to homecoming with me?_

Just then, Cosette bounced up to her, energetic as always. “Hi, Eppy!” she greeted cheerfully, holding balloons in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. Marius seemed to have formally asked the blonde to homecoming as well. Her blue eyes widened when she laid eyes on the flowers and the girl started squealing. “Oh, those are so pretty! Who’s it from?” Cosette was then sent into a fit of giggles when she saw someone approach them, pointedly nudging Éponine.

The brunette turned around to find Enjolras standing there, a hopeful little smile on his face. She stood on tiptoe and pressed a light kiss to his cheek, murmuring into his ear, “Of course I’ll go to homecoming with you, you dork.”

“Awesome.” He couldn’t stop himself from grinning like an idiot as he asked her, “What colour is your dress going to be? I want to get you a corsage.”

“That’s so _cute_ ,” Cosette gushed beside them, jumping up and down in place. “You two are so _cute_!”

Éponine smiled up at Enjolras, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. “Scarlet,” she informed him. “I don’t know how I’ll get the dress, since I barely have enough money, but I’ll do it. Somehow.”

“Chetta and I’ll take you dress shopping!” Cosette volunteered happily. Éponine was about to open her mouth to say that she didn’t have any money before Cosette continued, “I’ll pay for it!”

“Cosette, that’s awfully sweet of you,” Éponine said rather tightly, “but I really don’t need charity.” She and her siblings had been living with Cosette and her father ever since their parents were tossed into jail and Cosette’s father managed to get custody of them to prevent them from going into foster care, but that was a whole other story.

“You already live with me, so it isn’t charity,” Cosette pointed out, looking up at the taller girl. “Besides, I’m more than happy to help out.”

Éponine sighed, a reluctant smile creeping across her face as she said, “Well, I can’t argue with that.”

“Yay!” Cosette threw her arms around the taller brunette from behind, nearly knocking the wind out of her. After releasing Éponine, she turned on her heel and began to walk away. “We’re going to go dress shopping tomorrow!” the blonde called over her shoulder.

Éponine turned back to Enjolras and laughed. “She’s cute, isn’t she?” the brunette remarked, gazing after Cosette.

“Yes,” the golden-haired boy agreed, squeezing her hand.

“Thanks for the flowers and the chocolate, by the way,” Éponine told him, a gentle, dimpled smile appearing on her face. “You didn’t need to do that, you know. Maybe you shouldn’t consult Jehan about these kinds of things. God knows what he has planned for prom,” she added as an afterthought, laughing to herself.

“No, I wanted to do it,” Enjolras assured her, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Anything for my beautiful angel.”

“Oh, shut up,” she hissed, turning bright red. “I’m no angel.”

“You are one to me,” he replied candidly, kissing her hand. She turned even redder, bringing her bouquet to her face to hide her blush.

“’Sup, losers?” Courfeyrac skipped up to them with a handful of flyers, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “Don’t forget to vote me homecoming king!”

“Shameless self-promotion?” Éponine questioned in amusement, letting go of Enjolras’s hand to take a flyer. “Classic Courf.”

“Nice flowers,” Courfeyrac commented, wiggling his eyebrows and giving Enjolras a sly, suggestive look. “I’m assuming pretty boy here got you those?”

“Yeah, he did,” Éponine confirmed, smiling and kissing Enjolras’s cheek. “We’re going to homecoming together.”

“Well, I figured out that much.” Courfeyrac paused for a moment to hand out a few flyers to passing students, grinning amicably all the way. “Who knew the marble man was such a romantic at heart?” the brunet quipped once he turned back to the pair, chuckling at a red-faced Enjolras.

“He probably consulted Jehan,” Éponine pointed out, grinning at her boyfriend. “You did, didn’t you?”

“I may have done that,” Enjolras mumbled under his breath, blushing madly.

“Ha, see?” Éponine laughed and reached up to ruffle his golden curls. “’Jolras, I l—” She stopped speaking immediately, not daring to say the L-word out loud. Not yet.

Enjolras raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Well, I gotta go,” Courfeyrac told them, grinning cheekily. “I’ve gotta hand out more flyers to promote myself and ask your sister to homecoming and pester R about finally asking Jehan.”

“See you,” Éponine called as he began to stroll off, not quite catching what he said. When she processed what he said about asking her sister, she shouted, “Wait, _what_?”

Enjolras laughed and put an arm around Éponine, pulling her close. “You do realise they’ve been dating for three months now, right?”

“She’s a sophomore! He’s a senior! The age gap is a bit too big for high school, isn’t it?” Éponine burst out, sticking out her bottom lip petulantly. It only made Enjolras laugh even more as he kissed the top of her head.

“’Ponine, everything’s fine, and everything _will_ be fine,” he assured her, rubbing her arm. “I promise.”

On the night of the homecoming dance, Éponine and Enjolras, along with the rest of the Amis, cheered for Courfeyrac, who ended up being crowned homecoming king after all. It was the last homecoming for most of them, and they were all determined to make the most of every second, knowing full well that it’ll be over soon enough. The Amis all forced Enjolras onto the dance floor, yelling at him over the music to dance to those few slow songs with Éponine, and she found herself slow dancing with Enjolras to Ed Sheeran, a pink blush dusting her cheeks.

“Your last homecoming,” Éponine remarked softly, marvelling at how nice Enjolras looked as they spun around the dance floor in time to “Thinking Out Loud”, his hands on her waist and her arms hanging loosely around his neck. He was wearing a simple black suit, complete with a red tie that complemented Éponine’s sleeveless scarlet knee-length dress.

“I’m going to miss this,” Enjolras admitted, leaning in until their foreheads touched.

“Pfft, you’re going to miss high school?” Éponine snorted at the absurdness of that statement. “High school’s a fucking nightmare, my love. You’ve had the worst of it.”

“But the memories we made along the way makes it all worth it,” he reasoned, smiling when she placed a quick kiss on his lips. “And besides, we still have the rest of the school year to make more memories.”

“Memories you’ll take to college,” she murmured rather wistfully. “You sure you’re going to miss this? The stress, the workload, the awfulness of the cafeteria food?”

He laughed, leaning in as they swayed to and fro in time to the music. “I’m going to miss you, ’Ponine.”

There it was again—the growing dread Éponine felt at the thought of being left behind at the end of the school year. The slight pain in his tone made her feel even worse as she murmured in response, “I’m going to miss you too, ’Jolras.”

It was a bittersweet night—the Amis were all forced to come to terms with the fact that this was the last homecoming they’d all spend together, and there was a slight air of sadness amidst the joy of the evening due to the lingering thought of separation. Once the dance was over at eleven, they all went their separate ways, either in pairs or threes. Éponine turned to Enjolras as they stood in the dim glow of the streetlamps, suggesting, “Should we go to Central Park? We have two hours before it closes.”

“Sounds good to me,” Enjolras responded lightly, taking his jacket off when Éponine shivered slightly in the cool autumn breeze. “Here, wear this—you look cold.”

Éponine smiled rather sadly as he placed the jacket on her shoulders, unable to stop thinking about how this was the last time they’d ever do this together. “Thanks, ’Jolras,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. He took her hand and out of habit, she immediately began to swing their arms as they started to walk down the dim streets on their way to Central Park.

As they strolled down the promenade amidst the red and gold leaves, completely alone, the crescent moon offering a bit of illumination, Éponine couldn’t help but feel rather despondent despite having had one of the best nights of her life. “We made memories tonight, didn’t we?” she asked softly, turning to face Enjolras as she stopped in her tracks.

“And we’ll continue to make them,” he told her, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “We still have the rest of the year, ’Ponine. We still have lots of time.”

 _That’s what people think,_ Éponine thought, raising her head and smiling at him, refusing to spend the rest of the evening wallowing in despair. “Want to dance?” she offered, taking his hand and twirling around in place, her chiffon skirt blowing in the wind.

“Why not?” Enjolras eagerly took her into his arms as they spun around the empty promenade in the moonlight, beginning to sing softly to her in an attempt to lift her spirits. She smiled softly as he drew her close, holding her in his arms and quietly singing to her as they swayed to and fro, slowly spinning around.

“We are still kids but we’re so in love, fighting against all odds; I know we’ll be all right this time…”

* * *

“It’s fucking freezing,” Éponine grumbled as Enjolras gently pulled her along into the packed crowds of Times Square, wondering why the hell they didn’t just watch the ball drop from home like everyone else was doing. “Remind me why we’re here again?”

“It’s New Year’s Eve and it’s my senior year,” Enjolras replied simply. “We’ve watched the ball drop from home every other year—let’s make this one special.”

Éponine rolled her eyes, pouting slightly and shivering from the cold, telling him, “You know I’m only doing this because I lo—” She stopped abruptly, still quite terrified of the L-word. Seeing the look on Enjolras’s face, she hastily amended, “I’m only doing this because I like you.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Enjolras responded, seeming perfectly unfazed. He tugged her along until they were standing in a spot where they could get a perfect view of the Times Square Ball. Yes, it was crowded, but that was a mere inconvenience—at least, Enjolras seemed to think so. Éponine was still rather grumpy at being dragged all the way out to Times Square when she could be sitting in the living room of Jehan’s penthouse with everyone else, chatting and watching the ball drop from TV.

She let out a terrified squeak when a grown-ass man rubbed up against her, almost certainly on purpose, and she managed to snarl, “Fuck off.”

“Work it, girl,” he told her, giving her an absolutely disgusting smile with his yellowed teeth. “I’d hit that.”

“I said _fuck off_ ,” she growled, even more insistent this time, her heart beginning to pound wildly in fear as she glared at him.

“Why should I?” the strange man challenged, stepping closer to Éponine. She gasped, absolutely outraged when he had the gall to reach out and grab her ass. “You’re lookin’ good, girl.”

Enjolras felt Éponine’s grip on his hand tighten and turned his head, his blue eyes widening in anger when he saw Éponine trying to slap away a strange man’s hand. “You heard her,” the golden-haired boy told him fiercely, stepping up and towering over the man, glaring down at him with as much intensity as he could muster. “She told you to fuck off, so fuck off.”

“And who would you be?” the man questioned, still daring to defy the teenage couple.

“I happen to be her boyfriend, and I could have you reported for harassment,” Enjolras replied furiously, restraining himself from reaching out and slapping this asshole who dared harass Éponine. “She’s _sixteen_ , you fucking creep, and she clearly wants nothing to do with you, so do the both of us a favour and _fuck off_ before I fucking report you.”

With that, Enjolras pulled Éponine further into the crowd, muttering indignantly under his breath about catcallers and motherfuckers who needed to mind their own fucking business. Once they were safely away from the creepy man, Enjolras grabbed Éponine’s arms and turned to face her.

“I’m so, so sorry about that, ’Ponine,” he apologised profusely, seeming rather distressed. “I should’ve noticed right away.” When she stayed silent, avoiding eye contact, he tried, “We can go home if you want to.”

To his surprise, Éponine declined. “No,” she murmured, her tone firm. “I know this means a lot to you.”

“But that asshole was _groping_ you, ’Ponine!” Enjolras cried incredulously. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”

“We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Éponine reasoned, oddly calm. “Besides, a part of me really does want to see the ball drop in person, and since it’s your senior year and this means a lot to you, I’d think that’s reason enough to stay.”

Enjolras stared at her in amazement, falling even more in love with her as he pulled her close into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “I’m sorry, ’Ponine,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she held him close, her skinny arms wrapped around his torso and her face buried in his chest. “You didn’t deserve to go through that.”

“I’ve been catcalled plenty of times before, ’Jolras,” Éponine told him, looking up to gaze into his blue eyes. “I’ve gotten pretty used to it.”

“Nobody should have to get used to sexual harassment,” Enjolras responded grimly. “’Ponine, the next time someone tries to harass you in any way, tell me and the others. We’ll put a stop to it.”

“I don’t think you can stop creepy men from saying creepy things to girls on the street,” Éponine told him drily. “It’s just the way it is, I guess.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be,” Enjolras told her, kissing her forehead. “You’re everything to me, ’Ponine. You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

“You would?” she asked, looking up at him in surprise.

“Yes, ’Ponine, I would,” he confirmed, squeezing her hand. “You mean the world to me.”

They still had an hour to go before midnight, and Éponine took that opportunity to just chat with Enjolras about shit as they kept their hands clasped tight. As much as she hated crowds, Éponine was rather glad because of the warmth the people around them provided.

“What universities are you applying to?” she questioned mildly, immediately regretting it afterwards. To talk about where he was applying to would lead to her wondering about their future, after he graduated and she still had one more year to go. She didn’t want to think about it, but she knew that she’d have to at one point. She couldn’t just keep ignoring the harsh truth.

“Yale, Harvard, and Princeton,” Enjolras replied, his tone rather flat. It seemed that he didn’t want to think about the plain fact that they were going to have to part ways at the end of the school year either.

“Very prestigious,” Éponine quipped in an attempt to get him to smile, grinning triumphantly when he did. “I’m sure you’ll get in, ’Jolras.”

“Thanks, ’Ponine,” he murmured, squeezing her hand.

The pair continued to talk together until five minutes before midnight, where they both put their attention onto the Times Square Ball as some singer Éponine couldn’t quite name performed John Lennon’s “Imagine”. In the middle of it, she turned her head to look up at Enjolras, saying to him, “It’s three minutes to midnight. I’m glad you’re standing here with me, ’Jolras.”

He squeezed her hand, a smile lighting up his face and his blue eyes sparkling in the light of Times Square. “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend New Year’s with, ’Ponine.”

One minute to go. Éponine and Enjolras found themselves holding their breath in anticipation, their eyes glued onto the ball as the countdown flashed on the billboard beneath the ball. When there were ten seconds to go, the crowd was chanting along, all staring at the ball. Deafening cheers erupted from the crowds as they entered the new year, and Enjolras pulled Éponine into a passionate kiss, pressing his lips firmly to hers and pulling her close, his arms around her waist as he dipped her slightly.

Éponine sighed into the kiss, bringing her arms up to hang loosely around his neck, able to ignore the crowds around them as she kissed him fervently. When they broke apart for air, Enjolras murmured amid the thunderous, earsplitting whoops and cheers, “Éponine, I lo—”

She pulled him back into the kiss, her hand sliding up into his golden curls. Despite being in a crowd of thousands, it felt like it was just the two of them, and she forgot about everything but him as the world around them melted away.

* * *

“Woo! Spring break, bitches!” Courfeyrac shouted out as they all went around packing their things into the cars, which were parked outside Cosette’s place. It was a little over a month after Éponine’s seventeenth birthday.

Their spring break camping trip to upstate New York had become an annual thing, and since this was the last one they’d all take together, it was even more special—and a lot more bittersweet. Now that most of the seniors had heard back from colleges, there was no disregarding the cold, hard truth—they were all going to have to go their separate ways, and they’d just have to deal with it.

Éponine walked around Enjolras’s car after shoving her duffel bag into the trunk, and she wrapped her arms around him from behind. “What’s up?”

“I’m trying to figure out where to put all the tents,” Enjolras muttered in reply, looking at the tents scattered on the sidewalk. “Should we just put them all in mine? We _are_ going to have all the luggage in mine.”

“How many tents are there?” Éponine questioned, counting them up in her head. She’d be sharing with Enjolras, obviously, and she had a vague idea of who would be sharing with whom—Musichetta with Bossuet and Joly, Jehan with Grantaire, Cosette with Marius, Bahorel with Feuilly. Gavroche had decided to tag along as his thirteenth birthday drew near, and he had even brought his own little tent, so there was that. Éponine figured that she’d just have to let Azelma share with Combeferre and Courfeyrac. _That’s not going to be a problem,_ she thought to herself, knowing Combeferre would stop Courfeyrac from doing anything too crazy. Either that or he’d join right in, but Éponine was too tired to even think about that being a possibility right now.

“Seven,” Enjolras replied. “We have, what, three cars?” Seven of them were going to be in Combeferre’s while six were going in Grantaire’s, so it seemed that Éponine would be alone with Enjolras and the piles of luggage in his.

“We’ll just shove them all into your car,” Éponine suggested. “We have everyone’s stuff in yours, anyway, so why not?”

“Well, okay, then.” Éponine detached herself from him as he walked over to pick up the tents, and she almost didn’t notice Musichetta walking up to her. She jumped when she felt the smaller girl’s hand on her back.

“How are you feeling, Ep?” Musichetta asked, looking rather saddened herself due to being in the same situation as Éponine times two, since both Bossuet and Joly were graduating.

Éponine sighed. “To tell you the truth, I’m terrified,” she confided, gazing rather wistfully at Enjolras, who had stopped loading the tents into his car to talk to Combeferre for a while. “What’ll I do, Chetta? He—he’s everything to me. I’m so sorry, by the way—I’m here crying over one guy while you’re going to be left behind by two. I can’t imagine how you feel.”

“I’ll manage,” Musichetta told her, putting on a brave little smile. “Joly’s going to look after Bossuet for me—you know how that boy keeps getting into trouble for some reason.” The petite girl laughed, saying, “He seems to be cursed with bad luck. Besides, it’s only one year, right? I’m applying to the same university they’re attending, and if I do get in, then we’ll move in together.”

“Oh, you’re lucky.” Éponine sighed yet again, brushing her dark hair out of her face. “I could never be smart enough to get into Yale.” Enjolras had already heard back from all three universities he applied to—he had been accepted into both Yale and Princeton and waitlisted for Harvard. He was still trying to decide between Yale and Princeton, but as of late, he was leaning more towards Yale.

“Oh, shut up,” Musichetta said, lightly socking Éponine in the arm. “You’re definitely smart enough, Ep. Just… don’t think about it too much, okay? You’ll only stress yourself out even more.” Musichetta stood on tiptoe to kiss Éponine’s cheek before walking away, finding Joly and Bossuet.

Enjolras walked back to Éponine, having loaded the last of the tents into the trunk of his car, and pulled her into a hug from behind, his arms around her waist. “Ready to go, love?” he murmured into her ear, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Éponine turned around, smiling up at him as she stood on tiptoe to press a quick kiss to his lips. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Grantaire walked over to them, unusually cheerful, a stupid grin on his face. Éponine assumed it had something to do with Jehan—Grantaire had finally gathered the courage to ask the romantic out back around homecoming and they’ve been together ever since. The fact that R had been accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design on a partial scholarship seemed to have done a lot to help cheer him up tremendously as well. “What’s up, lovebirds?” he teased, putting an arm around Éponine and kissing her cheek in greeting. “How are you?”

“Decent,” Éponine replied truthfully, laughing slightly at the feeling of Grantaire’s lips on her cheek. “It’s bittersweet, isn’t it? This is our last camping trip together.”

“Last camping trip,” Grantaire echoed, staring up at the blue, blue skies. “I’m going to miss this.”

“I’m going to miss _you_ ,” Éponine told him, ruffling his black curls. “You’ll come back for the holidays, though, won’t you?”

“Well, of course!” Grantaire assured her. “Jehan still has one year left, and I want to visit him as much as possible. I’ll come visit for Thanksgiving and Christmas break and summer vacation and quite possibly spring break. Hey, maybe we can start a new spring break tradition! I’m pretty sure pretty boy here has similar plans as well,” he added, gesturing towards Enjolras, who was now standing on the opposite side of Éponine. “Don’t you?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Enjolras confirmed earnestly. “But let’s not think about that right now. We really should get going.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Grantaire quipped, taking time to whisper implicatively in Éponine’s ear, “Hey, since this is the last time we’re all going on this camping trip together, you really should seize the opportunity to bone Enj in the woods.”

“You are _vile_ ,” Éponine told him frankly, laughing as he winked and strolled off to seek out Jehan, whistling a lively tune.

“’Ponine, you should get in the car,” Enjolras told her, not even asking about whatever crazy idiotic shit Grantaire could’ve whispered into her ear as he walked off to tell Combeferre that they were going. Éponine did as she was told, getting into the passenger seat and reclining her seat as much as she could with all the crap behind her.

Outside, Combeferre called out, “Get in the cars, everyone! We’re leaving!”

Enjolras soon got into the driver’s seat as Éponine plugged her phone in to turn up some music. She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, evoking a little smile from the golden-haired boy. “This should be fun,” he commented, his left hand resting on the wheel. “Are you excited?”

“Very,” Éponine replied, a huge grin on her face, jumping up and down in her seat as Enjolras gestured for her to put on her seatbelt. “God, I love these trips.”

“It’s our last one together,” Enjolras thought out loud, mostly to himself. He hadn’t expected Éponine to hear, but she did.

“I’m going to miss going on these trips with you,” Éponine told him, her hand slipping into his. She laced their fingers together, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it. She remembered what Grantaire had whispered into her ear earlier and grinned to herself. Who knows? Maybe she might just take his advice.

An hour later, they were out on the road, driving past forests that stretched out forever on the endless highways, not a care in the world. Enjolras’s car was leading the other two, and he and Éponine were singing along to “Runaways” at the top of their lungs, laughing in between verses.

“We can’t wait till tomorrow!” Enjolras sang loudly as Éponine dissolved into hysterical giggles beside him, clutching her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably at his facial expressions.

“’Jolras!” she yelled over the music, laughing as the car sped along while she sang along with him.

“Ain’t we all just runaways?” they belted out in unison, massive grins on their faces as they sang along. “I knew it when I met you! I’m not going to let you run away! I knew it when I held you; I wasn’t letting go! Oh, oh, oh!”

Éponine laughed and leaned back in her seat as the song came to an end, thinking, _I’ll never be this happy again._

Appropriately enough, “Brown-Eyed Girl” came on next and Enjolras immediately began singing it to her with that stupid dorky grin she was a sucker for.

“Hey, where did we go? Days when the rain came,” Enjolras sang, turning his head briefly to smile at her as she pushed him away, an amused little smile on her pink face. “Down in the hollow, playin’ a new game. Laughing and a-running, hey, hey! Skipping and a-jumping! In the misty morning fog with our hearts a-thumpin’ and you, my brown-eyed girl.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek before she pushed him away yet again, laughing. “You, my brown-eyed girl!”

“You’re such a fucking _dork_ , you know that?” Éponine told him candidly, unable to resist a smile at his ridiculously adorable antics. For once, she wasn’t actively thinking about how this was the last time they’d get to do this as carefree teenagers in high school as she simply let herself truly enjoy little moments such as these.

She gazed at him tenderly, a look of complete, utter love and adoration in her deep brown eyes as he sang along to the music, the smile on his face bringing out his eye crinkles. He was tapping the steering wheel slightly to the beat, his head bobbing in time to the music as light caught in his golden curls, his blue eyes twinkling.

 _I love you,_ she thought, gazing at him with a fond smile on her face. She found herself thinking it more and more often these days, although she could never work up the courage to say it out loud just yet. _I really, really do._

Four hours later, they arrived at their regular camping spot, which was a big clearing in the middle of the woods upstate. There was an absolutely gorgeous lake nearby, just a short walk away from their camping ground with a smooth little trail that had been there for ages—Éponine delighted in the fact that they didn’t even need to wear shoes to go to the lake. The trees rose high above them, stretching out into the heavens. It was quite a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the camping ground, and Éponine found herself begrudgingly lugging Gavroche’s tent along for him as the Amis trekked through the woods, making their way to the camping spot they liked to call their own. Once there, they all helped each other out with pitching their tents, and once they got that over with, they stood back to admire their work.

“This is going to be the best camping trip we’ve ever had,” Courfeyrac declared, pumping his fist into the air. It sounded like a promise.

Over the course of the next several days, they did everything together, like they did each year—they jumped off the dock into the lake and ran around the little beach while hollering at the top of their lungs, hiked through the woods while somehow managing to deal with both Courfeyrac’s endless whining about his legs hurting and Bossuet’s injuries, climbed trees just to jump down, and God knows what else. On their last night of camping, they all gathered around a campfire on the beach, toasting marshmallows to make s’mores and singing together, the sounds of their laughter ringing through the air.

“Let me just say that I really, really love you guys,” Joly told them all as he sat perched on a log, his arms around Bossuet and Musichetta. Dusk had fallen upon them and was rapidly morphing into night as the fire roared before them, warming their faces. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“The feeling’s mutual, darling,” Musichetta told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before stuffing her third s’more into her mouth. “God, I’ll miss you idiots.”

Éponine was gazing rather absent-mindedly at the fire, her head on Enjolras’s shoulder with his arm around her. “This’ll sound really fucking cheesy,” she began, looking up to look around at them all, “but you guys really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

She thought back to all the times they had helped her out—how they beat up Montparnasse’s abusive ass back during her freshman year when she was still trapped in a relationship with him, how they somehow managed to convince Cosette’s father to get custody of her and her siblings when her parents were thrown in jail, and so on. She gazed at all of the Amis one by one, realising just how much they meant to her and how much it was going to hurt when they’d have to go their separate ways.

“Glad we could help.” The sound of Bahorel’s gruff voice brought Éponine back to earth, and she turned to smile at him as he grinned at her in return.

Éponine snuggled closer to Enjolras, a little dimpled smile on her face as Grantaire held up some booze he had seemingly produced out of nowhere. “To us!” he crowed, taking one gulp before passing it on to Jehan, who was sitting next to him.

“Gav, Zel, you two don’t drink!” Éponine told them firmly as the bottle was passed around.

“Um, that’s really unhygienic,” Joly pointed out rather anxiously, refusing to take the bottle when it was passed down to him. Bossuet shrugged and passed it on to Musichetta, who took a sip and made a face before giving it to Cosette, who politely declined and passed it to Marius, who refused to drink as well, handing the bottle to Courfeyrac. Éponine took one gulp after Enjolras and Combeferre refused to and handed the near-empty bottle back to Grantaire.

“I love you losers, you know that?” Grantaire told them, smirking at them all before bursting into laughter. “Let’s sing something! You know, for old times’ sake!”

“Let’s gather around the campfire and sing our campfire song!” Courfeyrac began to sing, a shit-faced grin on his face. Éponine groaned loudly and brought her hand up to hide her face, hiding her exasperated yet amused smile. “Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! And if you don’t think that we can sing it faster, then you’re wrong, but it’ll help if you just sing along!”

“I really hate you sometimes,” Azelma told him, a reluctant smile on her face as Courfeyrac frantically gesticulated for all of them to sing along.

“C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song!” they all sang together. “And if you don’t think that we can sing it faster, then you’re wrong, but it’ll help if you just sing along!”

Éponine dissolved into giggles when they couldn’t go any faster, doubling over as she laughed her ass off. Enjolras gave her a fond sideways glance, unaware of the fact that he looked really, really dumb to everyone else as he gazed at a laughing Éponine.

“Aww, look,” Courfeyrac cooed to Azelma, watching Éponine as she stopped laughing and buried her face in Enjolras’s shoulder while he put an arm around her, kissing the top of her head. “Our chief’s in love.”

Azelma turned to Courfeyrac with a pout. “How come we’re never that cute?”

“Yes, we are!” Courfeyrac contradicted, putting an arm around her and pulling her close with his other arm already loosely draped around Combeferre.

“Seriously, guys,” Feuilly piped up, taking a bite out of his s’more. “I really, really don’t know what I’d do without you all.” He was going off to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the autumn and while he couldn’t be happier about that, he knew that he’d miss them all terribly.

“You brought me out of my shell,” Éponine told the Amis, turning to smile at Marius. “Thanks, Marius. I’m glad you introduced me to these nerds.”

"Anytime," Marius replied, smiling.

“Promise us you’ll come visit?” Jehan requested anxiously, looking around at all the seniors. Grantaire pressed a kiss to his cheek in reassurance.

“Of course we will,” he told the ginger softly, looking around at all the other seniors pointedly. “Won’t we?”

“Of course,” Combeferre reassured him with a smile.

“I love you guys,” Cosette told them, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Marius wrapped his arm tighter around her as she began to get all choked up.

“Don’t cry, Cosette,” Éponine pleaded, thinking that she might start crying herself if Cosette did. “This isn’t going to be the end, is it?”

“No, it isn’t,” Courfeyrac replied firmly. “You’ll see. Bonds like these just can’t be broken.”

“Damn right,” Grantaire agreed, raising his bottle. He glanced at little Gavroche, who was just a couple of weeks shy of his thirteenth birthday, and told him, “I’ll come visit you, Gav. We’ll Skype if I can’t.”

Gavroche pursed his lips, rather saddened. All of his friends were much older than him, and as a result, he’d be left all alone when all of them finally graduated. “Thanks, R,” he mumbled, his voice barely audible.

“You okay, Gav?” Courfeyrac asked in concern, noticing Gavroche’s despair for the first time.

“No, I’m not,” Gavroche replied honestly, “but I will be. I’ll just miss you all, that’s all.”

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Combeferre advised the boy, smiling encouragingly. “You know we’ll come visit.”

“Let’s sing something else,” Feuilly suggested, sticking another marshmallow on his metal skewer to hold over the fire.

As they all launched into a rendition of “With a Little Help from My Friends”, Éponine snuggled closer to Enjolras, kissing his cheek and murmuring into his ear, “You guys really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

That night, Enjolras was roused by Éponine for some reason around one o’clock, and he sat up groggily to find her sitting in front of him, wearing one of his hoodies. “Want to go somewhere?” she asked in excitement, bouncing on her knees.

Enjolras shrugged and crawled out of the tent after Éponine, walking barefoot through the grass. “Where are we going?” he whispered as they tread carefully, making sure not to wake the others.

“We’re going to go bone in the woods,” she deadpanned in response, laughing at the look on his face. “It was a joke! Unless, of course, you actually want to. No, ’Jolras, we’re going to the lake.”

Her small hand found his and she tugged him along the path to the lake. Once they were on the beach, Éponine squeezed his hand and looked up sideways at him. “Pretty peaceful, isn’t it?”

“Why are we here, ’Ponine?” Enjolras asked. “Why does it have to be so early?”

“We’re going to watch the sunrise, but for now, pretty boy, we’re going to dance,” Éponine replied, lacing their fingers together as her other hand slid up his chest to rest on his shoulder. Enjolras placed his free hand on her waist as they began to spin around the beach in a graceful dance under the light of a thousand stars, and he silently marvelled at how effortlessly she danced. He twirled her around on the sand, illuminated by the moon, smiling at how delighted she appeared to be. He’d do anything to make her smile that dimpled smile he had fallen so hard for.

 _I love you,_ he thought as he twirled her around before taking her into his arms once again, amazed by all the feelings this one perfect girl was capable of making him feel. _I love you so, so, so much._

As dawn approached, they found themselves sitting together in the sand, watching the sun slowly rise above the lake and trees, Enjolras’s arm around Éponine with her head on his shoulder. She looked down at herself, laughing. “God, I look like such a mess,” she remarked lightly, brushing some sand off her leggings.

“You look perfect, ’Ponine,” Enjolras whispered under his breath. She heard him and looked up, turning her head to gaze into his blue eyes, their faces inches apart. She closed the gap between them and leaned in, her lips meeting his in a tender kiss as she smiled against his lips. When she pulled away, he whispered to her, “You’re perfect in every single way.”

* * *

One gorgeous May morning, around two and a half weeks before prom, Éponine arrived at school in a somewhat dejected state, counting down the days to the seniors’ graduation and to when Enjolras would have to leave for summer classes at Yale. She tried not to let it show, though—she put on a brave face and refused to be upset during the little time she had left with all of her friends.

As she entered the school, she saw countless promposals all around her, and for once, such grand gestures warmed her heart. They just got more and more ridiculous as she walked down the halls, and it amused her to see the endlessly creative (and often preposterous) promposals. She just hoped Enjolras wouldn’t do anything nearly as ludicrous as their other classmates did.

Éponine reached her locker and found Enjolras standing there with an enormous bouquet of yellow red-tipped roses, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, and an adorable little teddy bear. She gave him a quizzical look, taking the teddy bear from him to read the cursive words stitched onto the heart the teddy bear was holding. _Will you go to prom with me?_

Éponine let out a contented sigh and laughed, taking the roses from him and sniffing them. “Yes, ’Jolras, I’ll go to prom with you!” she exclaimed, standing on tiptoe and kissing his cheek.

Despite having known that she was always going to accept, Enjolras couldn’t stop himself from grinning like a moron as she gave him that dazzling smile, her dimples showing. _I really, really love you, ’Ponine,_ he found himself thinking as he gazed at her. He was about to tell her just that when Grantaire and Jehan approached them, hand in hand, massive dorky grins on their faces.

“Did you hear that some guy went all out for his promposal and sang ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’, complete _10 Things I Hate About You_ –style?” Grantaire told them, his hand intertwined with Jehan’s.

“Jesus Christ, really?” Éponine burst out laughing, nearly doubling over in mirth. “Did whoever he was asking say yes?”

“Well, obviously,” Grantaire said, waving his free hand around.

“Did we mention that it was Marius and Cosette?” Jehan chimed in, laughing. As if on cue, the couple in question came walking up to them, their hands clasped tight.

“I assume R’s told you,” Cosette guessed lightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet and beaming.

“Really, Marius?” Éponine laughed, turning to the freckled auburn-haired boy and shaking her head. “ _Really_?”

“Why are you so surprised, Ep?” Grantaire quipped, giving Marius and Cosette a shit-faced grin. “You know how lover boy is all for big romantic gestures.”

“You plagiarised your big romantic gesture,” Éponine pretended to accuse, still looking pointedly at Marius. He was sweet, but Éponine wondered what the fuck led her to fall for him a million years ago.

“Oh, hush,” Cosette chided, making a hand motion as if brushing it off. “It’s the thought that counts.”

“I’ll need a prom dress,” Éponine mused to herself, gazing down at her roses. Cosette overheard and started squealing.

“Oh, Eppy! Did Enjy finally ask you?” she asked, bouncing up and down and looking back and forth between Enjolras and Éponine.

“Please don’t call me that,” Enjolras requested, frowning a bit at the nickname.

“What do _you_ think?” Éponine turned her head to look up into Enjolras’s blue eyes.

“We’re going shopping for dresses this weekend!” Cosette declared before turning on her heel and marching down the hallway, Marius in tow. Éponine didn’t even get a chance to respond, and she was left to stare after Cosette with a little exasperated smile on her face.

“Well, I suppose I have no choice but to go with her,” Éponine sighed, shaking her head. “You just can’t argue with Cosette once she sets her mind to something.”

“We’ll leave you two to it, then,” Jehan told Éponine and Enjolras lightly, turning to kiss Grantaire’s cheek. “See you in history, Eppy!”

As Jehan and Grantaire walked off, Éponine turned to Enjolras, giving him a soft dimpled smile. “Prom’s going to be great, isn’t it?”

“With you around, it will be,” Enjolras replied, kissing her temple. There was a chance his parents might be going out of town during prom, so maybe Éponine could go back to his place afterwards. He knew that she liked to sleep over whenever his parents were out of town.

Éponine grinned at him, squeezing his hand. “Thanks for the roses. I really love them.” _I really love_ you _._

“It was nothing,” Enjolras replied, blushing slightly under her gaze. He had painstakingly researched the meanings of different flowers prior to getting her the yellow red-tipped roses, which he had discovered symbolised friendship turning to love. It seemed appropriate enough since that was exactly what his relationship with Éponine was built upon, so he had gone out and gotten her the flowers right before school, and much to his delight, she absolutely adored them.

“Well, I’ve gotta go,” Éponine told him, checking her phone to see that it was three minutes before the bell would ring. She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, making him turn even redder. “I’ll see you later, nerd.”

Enjolras opened his mouth to say something but Éponine had already started walking away, still holding on to her bouquet.

That weekend, Éponine sat on a plush sofa in Macy’s as Cosette flew about, picking out several dresses for Éponine and herself to try on. Musichetta and Azelma were at Starbucks and would join Éponine and Cosette shortly.

“Eppy, come on!” Cosette squealed, handing Éponine a strapless pale pink dress with an empire waist and a flowing chiffon skirt before going back to pick out some more dresses to practically throw at the brunette. Éponine made a face.

“Cosette, pink really isn’t my colour,” Éponine called, unsure if the blonde even heard her. “I think it’d suit you better.”

“No pink dress, then.” Cosette popped up out of nowhere and swiftly took the pink dress to put back, replacing the pink dress with a pretty one-shoulder teal gown with a fuller skirt. Éponine observed it for some time before deciding that it wasn’t the dress for her, either.

The brunette begrudgingly got up, figuring that if she was going to find the perfect dress, she’d have to look for it herself instead of having Cosette throw various gowns at her. She hung the teal dress back up and began to browse the clothing racks for nice-looking dresses that weren’t too expensive. Cosette’s father allowed them to spend up to three hundred dollars each on a dress, but Éponine found that silly since she was only going to wear the dress for one night, so she found herself looking for an inexpensive but nice-looking dress.

“Hi, Ep.” Éponine jumped when she heard her sister’s voice behind her and whirled around to find Azelma standing there.

“Zelma! Don’t _do_ that!” she hissed, swatting at a laughing Azelma’s arm. “Stop it!”

“You just look so funny when you’re scared!” Azelma replied in between laughs.

“Shut up, Zel,” Éponine barked, turning back to browse the racks as Azelma began to do the same.

“These are _nice_ ,” Azelma commented, whistling appreciatively. She was only allowed to go to prom because Courfeyrac and Combeferre had asked her to go with them, and the sophomore was more than happy to accompany them. “How much did Mr. Fauchelevent say we could spend?”

“Three hundred each,” Éponine replied, not looking up as she looked at the price tag of a particularly nice-looking cerulean dress and made a face when she saw how expensive it was. “I, personally, think spending hundreds of dollars on a dress you’ll wear for one night is ridiculous.”

“Well, I didn’t ask,” Azelma responded, sauntering away to join Cosette just as Musichetta approached Éponine with a plum-coloured dress in hand.

“What’s up, Ep?” Musichetta greeted cheerfully, showing Éponine the dress she was holding. “I’ve decided. I’m wearing this.”

“Have you tried it on?” Éponine enquired, admiring the dress Musichetta had chosen for herself. It was a pretty halter dress with a full, flowing tulle skirt and a fitted beaded bodice, and Éponine didn’t doubt that it would look amazing on Musichetta.

“Yep!” the smaller girl confirmed gleefully, jumping up and down. “All I gotta do is pay and wait for you guys!”

“Have fun with that,” Éponine called as Musichetta began to walk off, presumably to the cashier to pay for her gown. She began to browse the clothing racks again, her brow furrowing as she looked at the price tags. _Why are all of these so goddamn expensive?_

Not surprisingly, Éponine was the last girl to have not found a dress, and Cosette, Musichetta, and Azelma were all sitting on a sofa with their purchases, waiting impatiently for Éponine to find her dress. “Éponine, really, how long does it fucking take to find a goddamn prom dress?” Musichetta questioned, steadily losing her patience as Éponine ran up and down between clothing racks, desperately searching for her perfect dress.

“Give me ten minutes!” Éponine called back, stopping when she saw a gorgeous dress almost completely hidden between two ball gowns. She took it off the clothing rack, observing it and looking at the price tag, delighted to find that it was within her budget. This was it. This was her dress.

When prom finally rolled around, the girls found themselves waiting for their dates in Cosette’s living room as Gavroche sat there with them, his dinosaur pyjamas contrasting sharply with the girls’ exquisite gowns. Mr. Fauchelevent had also decided to sit there and wait with them, possibly waiting to take pictures before they left for the dance. Cosette had decided to buy the pale pink dress she had first given Éponine after all, and Azelma had chosen a pretty strapless A-line white-gold dress with a sweetheart neckline and a tulle skirt much like Musichetta’s. Éponine was pacing the room, holding her skirt up, a clutch that matched her dress in her other hand.

She jumped slightly when she felt her clutch vibrate, immediately taking out her phone and seeing Enjolras’s name on the caller ID. She picked up, holding the phone up to her ear and making sure not to mess up her makeup.

“You’re here?” Éponine listened to the sound of Enjolras’s voice at the other end. “Oh, Courf and ’Ferre are with you? Who else? Just them? Okay, I’ll see you.”

When Éponine opened the door for Enjolras, his breath caught in his throat.

She looked absolutely stunning in her gown, which was Enjolras’s absolute favourite shade of crimson. The flowing chiffon skirt flared out just a little bit where it touched the floor, and the dress had a boat neck and cap sleeves and a beaded bodice. Her hair was only half up unlike the other girls’, who had gone with full updos, and her dark brown locks tumbled down her shoulders. It seemed that she had applied a bit of shimmering lip gloss to her pretty lips and a touch of mascara to her long lashes, but besides that, her makeup wasn’t that prominent.

Éponine raised an eyebrow. “Well? What are you staring at?”

Enjolras, on the other hand, looked quite dapper in his black tuxedo, his bow tie matching Éponine’s dress. She was almost certain that the tux had been tailored to fit him perfectly, judging by how tight it was in the rear. She wasn’t going to complain—she loved being able to show off the fact that that fine ass belonged to her boyfriend.

“How beautiful you look,” Enjolras replied simply, stepping towards her. She blushed scarlet at his words.

“You look very handsome yourself,” she told him sincerely, marvelling at how quick he was to turn red. Blushing fiercely, he gave her the corsage he had gotten her before she pinned the matching boutonnière she had gotten him on the lapel of his tux.

Behind them, the other girls and Gavroche had erupted in giggle fits, cooing over how adorable they were as Éponine took the arm Enjolras offered her. Azelma jumped up when Courfeyrac and Combeferre appeared in the doorway, embracing them both and complimenting them on how nice they looked. Not long after, Marius made an appearance, and soon, Bossuet and Joly were there to pick up Musichetta. They were just about to leave when Gavroche shouted, “Wait!”

The thirteen-year-old rushed off to his room and returned with a camera, saying, “We need to take pictures first!”

Éponine rolled her eyes at her brother and complied, placing one hand on Enjolras’s chest and turning to the side as he placed a hand on her back, kissing her cheek. A dimpled smile appeared on her face at the feeling of his lips on her cheek, and Gavroche took numerous pictures with that one pose alone. When they were done, Gavroche yelled out, “Next!”

Musichetta stood between Joly and Bossuet, her arms around the both of them, huge grins on their faces. Azelma, Courfeyrac, and Combeferre did a similar pose, with Azelma between the two boys, and of course Marius and Cosette had to be kissing in their pictures. Frankly, Éponine was surprised that Mr. Fauchelevent was so chill about it. After taking a few pictures with all of them together, it was time for them to go, and they all trudged out of the apartment and down the front steps, Éponine getting into Enjolras’s car with him.

“Did Marius _really_ have to go and rent a limo?” Éponine questioned snarkily, looking out the window to see Marius and Cosette get into the limousine parked right in front of the apartment.

Enjolras shrugged, adjusting the rearview mirror. “You know Marius—go big or go home.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that much,” Éponine replied as Enjolras began to drive.

They chatted all throughout the car ride to the venue, where they were supposed to be meeting the rest of the Amis. Éponine worked up the courage to ask Enjolras about Yale and found out that he was extremely excited to go there, although saddened by the fact that he had to leave his best friends behind. As Enjolras spoke, Éponine made silent vows to make this the best night of their high school lives and to make unforgettable memories together.

When they arrived at the venue, a DJ was playing some generic EDM that could be heard from outside the venue as the Amis all gathered outside, waiting for the last of them to arrive. People were already arriving, either in their own cars or in rented limousines, and going inside as the Amis stood outside, chatting together.

“Prom, guys!” Grantaire hooted. “God, this year has really gone by quickly, hasn’t it?”

“Too quickly,” Joly sighed fretfully, wrapping his arm tighter around Musichetta. “Before we know it, we’ll be graduating, and then it’s off to college we go.”

“Ew, don’t talk about that now!” Musichetta told him, sticking out her bottom lip. “We want this night to be fantastic! I don’t want to cry!”

“Then we won’t talk about it right now,” Bahorel declared, grabbing Feuilly’s wrist. “Shall we go in?”

Prom was a grand affair—the prom committee really had gone all out, and the venue looked absolutely stunning. After taking pictures, Jehan found them all tables before dragging Grantaire off to dance, leaving the others to decide who was going to keep watch at the tables. They eventually decided that the tables were unnecessary, going off to the dance floor to dance together.

“’Jolras, are you having fun?” Éponine yelled over the blaring music as she and Enjolras danced around to “A Sky Full of Stars”. “How do you feel?”

“This is great, ’Ponine!” he shouted back, laughing and brushing some stray curls out of his eyes. “I love this!”

The pair stumbled off to grab some punch once the song was over, absolutely exhausted from all the jumping around they did to the explosive music. Enjolras was still laughing as he filled a cup with punch for Éponine, handing it to her before taking his own.

“’Ponine, this has been really great so far,” he told her, deliriously happy as he took a sip. “It kind of makes all of the pain of high school worth it.”

“A night to remember,” Éponine replied, giving him a little grin with those dimples. He chuckled and looked down at his drink, rather overwhelmed by how beautiful she was and how much he loved her.

“ _You_ make the pain of high school worth going through,” he said quietly, mostly to himself, still smiling down at his drink.

Éponine gazed up at him, her dark eyes widening in surprise. She was glad for the dim lights hiding her deep red blush from view.

As the night went on, Éponine found herself slow dancing in the middle of the dance floor with Enjolras to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”, the very song he sang to her all those months ago after homecoming as they danced around the Central Park Mall.

“Hey, ’Ponine?” he murmured as he spun her around, his arms around her waist and her arms around his neck.

“Yes, ’Jolras?” she replied, gazing up attentively into his blue eyes.

“My parents are out of town,” he told her, their faces inches apart as they gazed into each other’s eyes while dancing. “Do you… want to come over?”

“Yeah, sure, why not?”

Éponine hummed along to the music as he led her around the dance floor, never taking her eyes off of his. Nearby, Jehan and Grantaire were dancing together when Éponine and Enjolras caught their eye.

“Aren’t they cute?” Jehan sighed happily, gazing at the golden-haired boy and the brunette as they twirled around the dance floor, completely enraptured by each other.

“Yeah, they are,” Grantaire agreed, his voice soft. “They look really in love, don’t they?”

“I think it’s weird that they haven’t said ‘I love you’ out loud to each other yet,” Jehan remarked.

“Really?” Grantaire turned his attention back to the couple, a look of surprise in his green eyes. “They seem like they have.”

“I think they’ve said every variation of ‘I love you’ _except_ for ‘I love you’ itself,” Jehan guessed, looking back into Grantaire’s eyes. “What’s holding them back?”

“There are some people who are too scared to say it out loud,” Grantaire pointed out. “Those aren’t just words you can just throw around, you know.”

“But they’ve been together for a year and half now!” Jehan exclaimed, directing his gaze back at Éponine and Enjolras.

“Well, their time will come,” Grantaire told him, taking Jehan’s chin in his hand and gazing fondly into his blue eyes. “Just know that I love you.”

Jehan looked down and smiled rather bashfully, murmuring back, “I love you, too.”

At midnight, everyone dispersed, and Éponine was a bit sweaty as she walked back to the car with Enjolras, their laughter ringing out in the night. “That was the best night of my life,” Enjolras declared as the two of them stumbled into the car, laughing heartily.

“Did you have fun?” Éponine asked as they buckled themselves in, a huge smile on her face.

“Yes, I did.” Enjolras leaned over to press a kiss to her lips, sighing contentedly into the kiss. “I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun, if you don’t count the camping trip.”

Éponine laughed and took her phone out to look at all the pictures they took as Enjolras started driving. She swiped through her camera roll, a jubilant little smile on her face as she looked back at all the fun they had with the Amis. She began to tear up slightly as she gazed at the pictures, looking at their delighted smiles, tinged with melancholy.

“I really am going to miss high school, ’Ponine.” The sound of Enjolras’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to look at him. “The Amis—you especially—you all made everything so, so worth it. You helped me through my worst days, and you were all there with me through the best.”

“Stop making me cry,” Éponine whined, beginning to get all choked up. “I’m going to miss you so much, ’Jolras. I’m going to miss all of you. You really brought out the best in me.”

“Same here,” Enjolras replied, a quiet sort of melancholy in his tone. “You guys are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. _You’re_ the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

They spent most of the car ride in silence, listening to the music from Éponine’s phone as they silently reflected on the night’s events. Once they reached Enjolras’s apartment building, they were speaking together again, chatting about everything and nothing all at once as they rode the elevator up to his parents’ penthouse.

Éponine and Enjolras got out of the elevator and just stood there, gazing into each other’s eyes. It was just the two of them in one large, dark penthouse. “Now what?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Enjolras put his arms around Éponine and pulled her close into a deep, passionate kiss, causing her to immediately respond by throwing her clutch onto the nearest sofa and throwing her arms up around his neck, kissing him back equally enthusiastically, his tongue finding its way into her mouth. They began to stumble blindly around the huge penthouse, occasionally tripping over furniture as they kicked their shoes off somewhere along the way to Enjolras’s room, locked in a furious, desperate kiss. Once inside his room, they somehow managed to get Éponine’s dress off, leaving her in her underwear as she fumbled with the buttons of his tuxedo, taking his clothes off one by one as they fell into bed, having done this quite a few times before but never on prom night.

They were soon completely unclothed in his dimly lit room, locked in a passionate embrace, hands roaming everywhere and evoking soft moans and sighs from the both of them as they touched each other without restraint, pressing kisses everywhere. Emotions were running high as he pressed her into the bed, kissing her passionately, his teeth tugging at her bottom lip, their bare bodies covered with sweat. Her moans rang through the large room as he whispered sweet nothings about how perfect she was into her ear.

* * *

“Congratulations, class of 2017!”

Deafening cheers erupted from the seniors as hundreds of red and black graduation caps flew into the air. It was the middle of a hot summer day in early June, and Éponine clapped along with everyone else as the seniors rejoiced, getting up and embracing one another. She made her way off the bleachers to find Enjolras with her siblings, Musichetta, Marius, Cosette, and Jehan at her heel. They found the seniors of the Amis together in a rather vacant part of the football field, chatting animatedly amongst themselves.

“’Ponine!” Enjolras didn’t waste time in throwing his arms around her and pulling her into a hug, holding her in his arms and never wanting to let go. She laughed and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

“Great job on your speech,” she murmured to him as she looked up to gaze into his twinkling blue eyes, referring to the valedictorian speech he had delivered earlier. They broke apart although Enjolras still kept one arm around Éponine, looking around at the rest of them.

“Guys, we did it,” Grantaire exclaimed, running his hands through his hair as he tried to process everything. “We graduated!”

“We’re officially college kids now!” Bossuet whooped, jumping up and down.

“Congratulations, you nerds,” Musichetta told them, tears streaking her cheeks as she stood between Joly and Bossuet with her arms around the both of them. She began to cry even more and turned away, not wanting the rest of them to see her cry. Meanwhile, Cosette and Jehan were both crying freely, not caring about whether or not the rest of them saw as they wept.

“Fuck, I’m going to miss you guys,” Courfeyrac told them all, beginning to tear up himself as Azelma approached him to embrace him. “I’m really, really going to miss you guys.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Éponine replied, echoing Musichetta’s words from months ago during spring break. She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears and buried her face in Enjolras’s shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, pulling her closer to him.

Parents began to approach them to congratulate them and take pictures, and Éponine managed to put on a brave smile as Enjolras’s parents instructed her and Enjolras to pose for numerous photographs. She smiled through the hugs and offers of congratulations, willing herself not to cry as Enjolras’s mother embraced her, thanking her for bringing Enjolras out of his shell. The Amis lost count of how many pictures they took as they stood in various poses for photographs, huge smiles on their faces to mask the bittersweetness of the day. Once the parents were satisfied with the sheer amount of photographs they took, they left the teenagers to it, letting them chat and say their farewells.

“This won’t be the end,” Combeferre told them all, unusually firm. “We won’t let this be the end.”

“It won’t,” Jehan agreed, tears still streaming steadily down his cheeks, his arm around Grantaire. “You _will_ come visit, right?”

“Who do you think we are?” Grantaire replied, pressing a quick kiss to the ginger’s lips. “Of course we will. We’ll be there for _your_ graduation.”

“It’s the end of an era,” Feuilly remarked, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his gown. “God, the year just flew by.”

“You morons will always be with me in spirit,” Bahorel told them, grinning to draw attention away from the tears forming in his eyes. “Fuck, you guys mean everything to me.”

“I’m going to miss you!” Joly cried out, blowing his nose on a handkerchief as he gazed at them through watery eyes before pressing kisses to Bossuet and Musichetta’s foreheads.

Gavroche went up to Grantaire and wrapped his skinny little arms around the older boy’s waist. “Stay in touch, R,” the thirteen-year-old requested, giving him big blue puppy eyes.

Grantaire laughed and ruffled Gavroche’s dirty blond hair. “Of course I will, you little freak.”

Courfeyrac went over to them and Gavroche immediately went to embrace him, asking, “You’ll keep in touch too, right, Courf?”

“Well, no shit,” Courfeyrac responded as if stating the obvious. “You’re one of my favourite people, little guy.”

Enjolras noticed how Éponine had remained a little quiet as everyone around them exchanged tearful goodbyes, and he pulled her aside so they could talk in private. “Hey.” He took her chin in his hand, lifting her head up to look into her dark, watery eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s just—” Éponine let out a slightly crazy-sounding laugh, wiping her eyes. “Fuck, how do I put this into words?” She gazed up into his blue eyes and saw the uncertainty in them, seeing just how terrified he really was of what the future had in store. She let out a long sigh, whispering, “I’m going to miss you so much, ’Jolras.”

“’Ponine, you have nothing to worry about,” Enjolras replied gently, his thumb tracing her jawline. “We’re going to Skype every day, and I promise I won’t look at anyone else while I’m at Yale.”

“You can’t help but look at them, ’Jolras,” Éponine replied in a feeble attempt to crack a joke. “You can’t help but see people.”

Enjolras laughed and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head and murmuring, “You know what I mean.”

She sighed and held on tight, wishing she could just stay in his arms forever.

When he pulled away to gaze into her eyes, tears began to stream down her cheeks and he wiped them away with his thumb, beginning to tear up as well. “Don’t cry, ’Ponine,” he whispered soothingly, wiping away her tears. “This isn’t goodbye.”

“I am a good bi, though,” Éponine responded, a dimpled grin on her face, unable to resist the urge to make a pun. Enjolras smiled at that.

“Yes, you are,” he agreed, laughing at her odd little joke that seemed to come out of nowhere. “But seriously, ’Ponine. This is not goodbye, and I promise you I’ll come back for the holidays.”

Éponine gazed up into his blue eyes, her eyes flicking to his lips momentarily. Just like that, their usual dislike of PDA was completely disregarded as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth, catching him off guard. He responded enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground, twirling her around right there on the football field as he kissed her with everything he had, his lips pressed firmly to hers. When she was back down on the ground and they broke apart, Enjolras murmured, “Éponine, I love you.”

Éponine felt like her heart could burst at hearing those three words uttered to her by him, and she pulled him back into a kiss, sighing against his lips and smiling at the feeling of how he grinned into the kiss. When they broke apart for air once more, he told her again, “I love you.”

Her heart skipped a few beats as she asked, “Do you mean that?”

“Yes, ’Ponine,” he replied, a little grin gracing his lips. “I love you. I really, really love you. It's kind of unbelievable how in love with you I am.”

She smiled and kissed him again, pulling him as close to her as possible, her arms thrown around his neck, holding him close. She found herself mumbling into the kiss, “I love you, Enjolras. I love you so much.”

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

When they broke apart, her small hand found its way into his and their fingers were intertwined as they looked at everyone around them, all of whom were taking photographs, exchanging goodbyes, or simply talking amongst themselves. They gazed at the Amis, who were all crying but laughing at the same time, and tears began to fall yet again as Éponine and Enjolras  observed them all. The golden-haired boy didn’t like to cry in front of people, but for now, he allowed it, tears rolling down his face as he looked back at all the happy times he had with his friends in high school.

 _It really is the end of an era,_ he thought to himself, feeling Éponine’s hand squeezing his.

They gazed at the students, graduates, parents, and teachers alike, uncertain as to what the future held. There they were, a golden-haired boy with sapphire eyes and a dark-haired girl with dimples, standing amidst the throngs of people and wondering what the future had in store for them.

As he gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, she realised that she’d always have him and the Amis by her side no matter what, and that knowledge was more than enough to keep her content as she stood there by his side, the sun shining down upon them as they began a new chapter of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> *narrator voice* "She ended up being accepted into Juilliard on a full scholarship for dance, much to her joy. Six years later, he graduated from law school with honours and married his high school sweetheart shortly after, and they all lived happily ever after." (that sounds really shitty i know i'm sorry)
> 
> THIS IS THE LONGEST ONE-SHOT I'VE EVER WRITTEN OH MY GOD
> 
> yes, they had sex on prom night. cliché, i know! (i prefer to think of it as making love, because that's what they were doing—really, truly making love) (also [this](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2a/7f/65/2a7f65f6029385f335680f40bb35a2d5--cute-couple-poses-for-prom-cute-prom-pictures-for-couples.jpg) was the prom picture pose i had in mind for e/é)
> 
> i really love how this turned out; i cried while writing it
> 
> i'm on tumblr, come say hi!
> 
> if you liked it, comments/kudos are really appreciated!


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